Midnight Flames
by dantesdarkqueen
Summary: Why was Axel so hellbent on seeing Roxas again? His journal might reveal the truth... the original Number XIII... AxelXOC. Sorry if don't like. Much better than it sounds. Officially completed, so read it while you can!
1. Heated Memories

**Summary: **Why was Axel so hell-bent on getting Roxas back after he left the Organization? Where did those ink-drops beneath his eyes come from? Axel's journal might shed some light on the subject... The original Number XIII...

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Square Enix or Disney. If I did, I would be a very, very rich woman, even richer if I lent out men like Axel, Leon, and Sephiroth to people willing to pay the price for a period of time with them. I do, however, own all rights to the OC in here.

**Queen's Quorner: **This is my first Kingdom Hearts fic, so please be nice! I normally only write Devil May Cry fan-fics, but this idea came out of nowhere while I was messing around in Hollow Bastian and Disney Castle. I don't know how the KH writers/readers feel about OCs, but please forgive me if you despise them. This fic takes place from Axel's POV, and is formatted more like reminiscing. If reading italics gives you a headache, you might want to go back to the listings now. Also, forgive me if I get some of the Organization members wrong. I do not own a DS, so I have never played Chain of Memories. Got more than enough experience with the remaining Nobodies, though. KH2 rocks! Now, onto the fic!

Heated Memories

_You know, I never thought I would tell anybody about her. But if I'm going to risk everything so I can see Roxas again, I might as well write this down. Just because I'm forgotten, that doesn't mean that she should be as well. My memories will rest here on these pages, where only fire can destroy them and nobody can find them. I've carried her memory with me for more than two years now; maybe putting them down here will finally put her to rest inside my mind. _

_And if anybody finds this and reads it, screw them. This is my journal, its got my name on the cover. Are people really so interested in digging up dirt on me that they'll sneak a peek at my innermost thoughts? _

_Heh. I know Marluxia would, if he was still alive. Probably Sai'ix too. _

_Bastards._

_Well, I guess it doesn't matter if anybody reads this or not. If I'm going to accomplish what I have in mind, I'm going to be leaving the Organization anyway. Good for me, eh? I finally get up the courage to stand against Xemnas only after I've already lost my best friend and... and whatever _she_ was to me. _

_Nobodies can't love. We don't have hearts, after all. _

_But if I did have a heart... _

_It would have belonged to her. _

_So I'll write my thoughts on these pages, burn them between the covers so they cannot be erased. After all, so long as somebody remembers them, a person is never truly gone, right? So when I'm gone, this book will remember her, remember _us.

_The Flurry of Dancing Flames..._

_And the Maiden of Darkest Shadow. _


	2. Maiden of Darkest Shadow

**Summary: **Why was Axel so hell-bent on getting Roxas back after he left the Organization? Where did those ink-drops beneath his eyes come from? Axel's journal might shed some light on the subject... The original Number XIII...

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Square Enix or Disney. If I did, I would be a very, very rich woman, even richer if I lent out men like Axel, Leon, and Sephiroth to people willing to pay the price for a period of time with them. I do, however, own all rights to the OC in here.

Maiden of Darkest Shadow

_I can still remember the first time I ever saw her. Xemnas called us all in for a meeting, told us that there was something we all needed to see, had to hear. None of us really had any idea what this was about, but we obeyed anyway. One does not disobey Xemnas and expect good things to happen. I was more than a little happy to get out of my current location, though. He'd had me out scouting for new targets to make into Heartless, and consequentially Nobodies, in... What was it again? Oh yeah. Some world called Wonderland. Strange place. Still find it irritating that Sa'ix had reccomended me for the job, saying that I would be perfectly at home on that screwed-up, completely insane mudball. _

_Whatever. In any case, I was thrilled to leave that miserable rabbit-hole behind. I figured that Xemnas had some new target for us to try and turn, somebody powerful enough that the job would require the combined power of the entire Organization. People that powerful are rare, but there have been a few. From what I hear, my original self was one such person. Whoever the hell _he_ was. _

_Turned out I was wrong. Xemnas had hauled us all back home so we could meet the newest member of the newly-christianed Organization XIII. _

_She was a...well, I guess the only thing I was thinking at the time was "whoa momma!" Pale as Xemnas' mane with this long, long black hair and a really nice face. And those eyes of hers. Ameythysts that seemed to dominate her face, so all you saw when you glanced at her were purple orbs, framed by long black lashes. Her rack wasn't that bad either. After taking in an eyeful of her, I had to look at Larxene. The look on her face was_ priceless._ Larxene takes great pride in being the only female in what had previously been Organization XII, and liked the effect her beauty tended to have on us guys. You could practically see the storm clouds gathering in her eyes, the desire to rend and tear and spill the newcomer's blood all over the floor. Saying that Larxene does not like competition is a serious understatement._

_But if the newbie saw the trouble (with a capital 'T') occupying the twelfth throne, she didn't acknowledge it. All she did was stand in the center of the floor watching us, her hands playing with her robe behind her back. She seemed to be shy, but one look in her eyes told you differently. She was biding her time. _

_For exactly what, I didn't know._

_At the time. _

_Xemnas told us that he had found her in a world called Twilight Town, just wandering around. He'd seen her use her powers to take down a bunch of Heartless that attacked her, and offered her a place in the Organization then and there. She had, of course, accepted. _

Nobody _turns down an offer to join the Organization. The only people that have got themselves turned into Dusks before they could say anything else. _

_If you don't serve Xemnas as a member in black robes, you serve him as a white-clad slave. _

_Vexen wanted to know what abilites she had that had caused him to recruit her on the spot. Xemnas told us that she was gifted with abilities very different from any of the ones we held, but very similar at the same time. Vexen asked him to elaborate, and so our Fearless Leader did so. Yeah, I know that's not his real title, but I like to call him that. Gets on his nerves. Nope, I'm not exactly best buddies with the great Xemnas. The feeling's mutual. He's not one of my favorite people, either. _

_The newbie, it seemed, had control over darkness itself. _

_While all of us have the ability to traverse the universe via paths of darkness, this woman could control the essence of darkness, the mysteries of the night. She had a much firmer grasp of that elusive power than any of us, including Xemnas. It was a power to be respected, and its wielder a Nobody the Organization would do well to keep a firm grasp of. Thus, she was now Number XIII of the Organization. _

_Her name suited her perfectly. She was called Onyx. _

_Marluxia wanted to know what use she would be to us, despite having already been told of her powers. He wanted to see how she would fare in a battle. Xemnas obliged him, ordering me and Xigbar into the center of the floor and setting up a barrier field so there would be no escape. I think he wanted to ask Zexion to take her on, seeing as how he could sense darkness and all, but decided otherwise. Regardless, Xigbar and I went into the square and readied our weapons, certain we would beat the shit out of her. _

_Onyx drew her hands out from behind her back then. In her hands were two swords not unlike Xemnas', except that hers were formed of pure darkness and, as we soon discovered, able to cut through almost anything. She could manipulate their length so they could become as short as daggers, or as ungodly-long as a frickin' building, and when they cut you they burned with the coldest fire I have ever felt. She fell into a battle stance, and offered us both a cocky smile, a twin to the one I always offer my opponants before burning their asses off. _

_I thought she looked more beautiful then, than I had previously believed. _

_Battle was her true placement. She was truly at home here, at one with her weapons, moving in a graceful dance as deadly as it was enthralling. I would never have believed anyone could take down Xigbar quickly, but she managed it with ease. She sank into a puddle of darkness and appeared right behind him, slashing him across the back with one blade while warding me off with the other one. Faster than I could parry and counter, she disappeared into her darkness. Xigbar still had enough fight left in him to shoot at her, but she dodged almost every shot. The ones he led into on blind guesses Onyx blocked with a shield of - guess what? - darkness. One of his own shots ricocheted right back at him, and that put him out of the fight._

_Leaving me to deal with the purple-eyed bitch. _

_My fire was actually more effective against her than I would have originally guessed. After I ringed the barrier with fire, it became harder for her to use her darkness. It seems she needs at least some shadow to use her abilites effectively, and with my flames dancing around the impromptu arena, it became increasingly difficult for her to step into her darkness or send dark bolts at me. Her swords, dammit, remained as effective as before. _

_We ended with a clench in the center of the area, our weapons tight together and our eyes only inches apart, maniac grins on both our faces. I think she was grinning for the exact same reason I was. _

_Here, on the other end of the opposing weapons, was a person much like myself. A freelancer only marginally connected to the Organization, with a love of mayhem and the stranger parts of this 'life' of ours. I kept wandering, at the time, how she felt about fire. _

_Arson, that is. _

_Or was. It grew into something much more once we started doing field work together._

_It was the beginning of a beautiful, _fiery_ relationship. _

_It was like the fires I control. Beautiful, enthralling, unbelievably hot, all-consuming..._

_But ultimately short-lived._


	3. Fiery Surrender

**Summary: **Why was Axel so hell-bent on getting Roxas back after he left the Organization? Where did those ink-drops beneath his eyes come from? Axel's journal might shed some light on the subject... The original Number XIII... LEAVE REVIEWS PLEASE, PEOPLE!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Square Enix or Disney. If I did, I would be a very, very rich woman, even richer if I lent out men like Axel, Leon, and Sephiroth to people willing to pay the price for a period of time with them. I do, however, own all rights to the OC in here.

Fiery Surrender

_For a woman whose abilities were so geared towards darkness and the element of surprise, Onyx had a surprising love of fire and heat. She had a talent for arson that rivaled my own, but prior to our friendship she had never used true flame. She had a kind of dark fire (as she called it) that could burn anything to ash, including flesh and bone. Even stone was not beyond its all-consuming embrace. It proved to be a most satisfactory partnership: what my fires failed to destroy, her darkness would obliterate. _

_Xemnas originally paired us up because our abilities worked well together. We obeyed him (what choice did we have, anyway?), and over time a friendship cropped up. We worked together because we liked each other and were comfortable working together. Neither of us really trusted each other, of course, but we also trusted each other a lot more than we did anyone else in the Organization. I wouldn't betray her unless it was in my extreme best intrest, and she would do the same. Partnerships like ours don't come along everyday, after all. Yeah, we did some solo missions after we met, but mostly we went out in the field together. _

_Fighting with her - not _against_ her - was something indescribable, a lethal dance of interweaving fire and darkness. We worked out a strategy through long weeks of trial and error, during fights with various people the Organization wanted to turn into Nobodies. Yeah, I know. A Nobody only forms when the heart is stolen away. But a Heartless can be created in battle just as easily as through manipulation. Anger and hatred surface better in fights than anywhere else, after all. As long as my fires were kept unlit, I could be hidden in her darkness. She'd wear the target out or engage his or her companions, and then when the moment was right she'd drop the darkness shielding me from view, leaving me to attack with speed and the element of surprise. Man, some of the looks on their faces! Moments like that I wished I could have had a camera with me. When all was said and done, and our target's original form had been destroyed, leaving a Heartless and a Nobody somewhere behind, we would just look at each other and grin like the invincible maniacs we were. _

_Good times. _

_I don't know when the attraction started. I think it may have been there from the first time we fought, the first time we met. Love at first sight? Hardly. Nobodies don't have hearts. But we can remember. The echoes of emotions contained in the heart we lost remains with us, so we _can_ feel emotions, to a certain extent. Kinda like the difference between a candle-flame and a firestorm. One is there and can offer some heat and light, but not much. It is mezmerizing, but the enthrallment is easily broken. The other is definately _there_ and offers so much more, lighting up the sky and burning away everything in its path. Transfixing its beholders with fear and its own hypnotic grace so they cannot escape. Destroying even whilst giving. That's the difference. Got it memorized? Good. In any case, what we had at first was physical attraction. _

_I mentioned previously how I thought she had a nice rack the first time I saw her. That thought kept crossing my mind whenever she was breathing hard, like after a battle or something. Larxene never filled out those robes as well as Onyx did. Blondie was pretty flat-chested, far as I'm concerned. I started wondering what Onyx would look like without her robes on, and eventually some pretty hot daydreams started working their way into my head. There were some nights when I'd sit up just playing with fire and flammable objects, watching her while she slept, wondering how she'd react if I was to burn that black fabric right off her body. At first I figured she'd try and slice me up good before demanding I surrender my robes to replace hers (what a Kodak moment it would be, if I were to walk into the castle like _that_!), but over time I began to realize that she might not be all that angry. _

_That line of thinking started when I accidentaly caught her bathing while we were out on a mission in the Land of Dragons. I had woken up in the middle of the night for some reason, and when I looked over at her blankets they were empty. Kinda figured I'd find her in the river. I mean, we'd had to fight some locals (gotten a dusk and a samurai out of that bunch) earlier, and she'd gotten quite a bit of blood on her. Onyx wasn't the most meticulous Nobody I'd ever met, but she also hated being that filthy. I mean, who enjoys being soaked with bodily fluids (aside from Larxene and Sa'ix)? So I moseyed on down to the river and, sure enough, there she was. _

_If I had a heart, I think it would have stopped beating for a moment. I mean, _damn_, my fantasies were nothing compared to reality! I think the only reason she turned around was because she heard my jaw hit the ground. _

_And she was so cool about it. Didn't get mad at all. Onyx just turned so I could see a little bit better and struck a pose, asking me with this devilish smile if I liked what I saw. All I could do was nod like a dumbass. If it was possible, her grin got even wider then. She told me that if I wanted it, then I would have to be a very _bad_ boy. She didn't like nice men. With that, she dunked herself into the water and stayed under until I went back to the camp. _

_Things changed between us from then on. There was a lot more flirtation and tension than before, and we were eying each other even more closely. Whenever we finished a fight, it was all I could do not to just go over to her and rip that robe right off that body of hers. I could tell by the look in her eye that she was entertaining similar thoughts. Why we didn't, I still don't know. I don't think any of the other Nobodies picked up on what was going on between us, but I can't be sure. Demyx might have. Possibly Larxene too, but then again she hated Onyx anyway. Feeling was mutual. _

_Things finally came to a head while we were messing around in Traverse Town. We'd just nailed this really powerful bastard, can't even remember his name, but it was a tough fight. Once it was over, we had holed up in an abandoned house to rest. Yeah, I know we can all travel to the castle and other places at will, but neither me nor Onyx really liked spending too much time in the City That Never Was, much less the Castle. When out on a mission, we preferred to stay in that world until our objective had been accomplished. Didn't much like cooperating with whatever whim the members higher up on the scale had in mind at the moment. Still don't. We had just fought off a bunch of Heartless after taking down our target, and we were just too tired to mess with going back to the Castle right then. It would mean reporting to Xemnas right off the bat, and talking to him is always exhausting. I mean, the guy's so manipulative it hurts your brain to try and decipher the true meaning behind everything he says. Vexen was just as bad. _

_Here I am, getting off-track. Way to go, Axel. Making yourself look stupid. Not that it matters anymore, I suppose. Regardless, it was after that fight that we realized we had a minor conundrum on our hands. We hadn't anticipated staying in Traverse Town any longer than necessary, so we hadn't brought any blankets with us this time. So we decided to sleep leaning against each other for warmth. Her warmth. Darkness is cold, after all. We fell asleep like that, my arm around her shoulder and her leaning against me, as close as you please. _

_Dunno how much time had passed, but I was still a pretty tired when I felt a hand running up and down my chest through the robe. That woke me up, and I looked at Onyx. She told me that she couldn't sleep, too wound up despite her exhaustion, and asked me if I knew any way to help her settle down. Well, sure I had an answer. I'd had once since I'd seen her bathing in that river. But I wasn't sure she'd want to do it _then.

_Something must have shown in my eyes, because she yanked my head down and, right before she kissed me, told me "Do it."_

_So I did. _

_Man, what an experience that first time was. Skin sliding together, robes cushioning us while we made out and touched every inch of each others' bodies. Sounds only just covered up by the lips of the other. Our hair interweaving so it formed a mat of inky black chill and the fire's red heat, fingers clasping and unclasping, roaming where they would. Onyx whimpering beneath me as we moved, fire into darkness, lighting up the night with a myriad of beautiful explosions. I don't think our eyes left each other the entire time after we came together. I just couldn't stop looking at those pruple-wine eyes of hers, so dark in her passion. She was a mystery, and I wanted to discover every part of her, burning away the illusions so she was bare before me even as she tried to hide in her darkness and tease me with even more mysteries. _

_When it was over, we just lay there, too wrecked to move. She managed to flip one of our robes over us so anybody who came by - modesty is so irrational sometimes - wouldn't get an eyeful, and we went to sleep at last, my head pillowed on her chest and her fingers buried in my red mane. _

_It was an experience we would repeat whenever we got the chance. Sometimes immediately after battles we'd be at each other, tearing the robes off so we could get at the skin beneath, our mouths already devouring each other, our weapons fallen and forgotten. It didn't matter who saw or where we were. We had to get together _right then_. Not in a minute, not when we had some privacy. _Then.

_Then tension fell away, and our friendship strengthened a hundredfold. We still didn't trust each other completely, but we knew that we wouldn't turn the other in for some misdemeanor unless it was absolutely necessary. Call us what you will. We had no words for what we shared, but we knew we enjoyed it greatly. Whatever it was called that we shared, the word had been stolen along with our hearts. _

_All we knew was that we surrendered to each other in a sea of molten fire and shielding darkness, and we _liked_ it. _


	4. Burning Fire and Darkest Shadow

**Summary: **Why was Axel so hell-bent on getting Roxas back after he left the Organization? Where did those ink-drops beneath his eyes come from? Axel's journal might shed some light on the subject... The original Number XIII...

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Square Enix or Disney. If I did, I would be a very, very rich woman, even richer if I lent out men like Axel, Leon, and Sephiroth to people willing to pay the price for a period of time with them. I do, however, own all rights to the OC in here.

Burning Fire and Darkest Shadow

_God, it's almost impossible to forget about her, even if I did want to. At moments when I do not summon the thoughts, I can't help but remember alabaster skin, so soft and silky, moving under and atop me. Midnight hair slithering about us in a dark shroud while she went down on me, sensitizing my nerves even as her mouth worked over me. Eyes like rain-washed amethysts, darkening to the rich shade of fine wine as she got wetter and wetter while I worked on her, gazing wide-eyed into my own ocean-green orbs before rolling back into her head and shutting tightly against a gasping, crashing wave of ecstasy. _

_You can't forget things that meant something to you. People and occasions that make you feel whole again when you're missing so much of yourself. _

_Onyx and I did that to each other. When we were together, we were happy. We made each other feel as if we had hearts again. Roxas made me feel that way, too, but not in the same way. What Onyx and I had was special. Impossible to replicate with anybody else. Think what you will about my and Roxas' relationship, but I became celibate after Onyx. No more hanky-panky-spanky for Axel. Not until I see her again, anyway._

_Assuming we both have next lives, that is..._

_But anyway, I digress. I think the reason we were allowed to continue our relationship for so long was due to two reasons. First of all, I don't think most of the Organization even knew about it. We were careful not to give anything away, only doing the skin-slap in-and-out when we were pretty damn sure that we wouldn't be interrupted. That usually mean that we only fucked when we were out on missions. You are never truly assured of privacy in either castle, after all. Due to our ability to access the Realm of Darkness and come out wherever the hell we want at will, doors are entirely unnecessary and utterly useless. Hell, walls too. I've been interrupted in all manner of activities, so I know not to feel too secure._

_But I gotta admit, seeing Demyx's face when he walked in on me while I was jacking off that one time... Damn, that was worth a laugh or five. Yeah, I've got the biggest one in the Organization (communal showers. Not for the modest). Probably why Larxene hates me so much. From what I've heard, Marluxia doesn't have that much to speak of below the belt. After that beating she gave me when I hit on her that one time shortly after she joined, there's no way I'd ever have fucked her. Heh. Her loss. _

_Yeah, I know I'm good. Onyx certainly screamed it enough. _

_Second reason we were together so long is probably because we were both so useful to Xemnas. Nobodies like us don't come along every day, after all. And we did so much field work that we were virtually indisposable. Most of the dusks were made by our efforts. Nobody (funny, huh?) else in the Organization was responsible for the creation of so many Nobodies as Onyx and I. So even if somebody did find out about our illicit activities and tattled to the boss, Xemnas wouldn't do anything about it beacuse not only were we expanding the ranks, we were also creating a ton of Heartless for the Keyblade kid to kill. We were making a gigantic contribution to the eventual formation of Kingdom Hearts, so Xemnas was willing to overlook most transgressions. _

_'Most' being the key word. 'Most.' _

_I still don't know who told Xemnas that damned lie. I have a couple of suspects in mind, but no certainties. Larxene could have told him out of sheer spite and jealousy. No one really paid her that much attention after Onyx arrived, after all. Even Marluxia tried to hit on the Maiden of Darkest Shadow a couple of times. Just got tired of vanilla and wanted to try chocolate, I guess. Blondie was not too happy about this, as one might expect. She was not my number one suspect, however._

_Zexion was another good possibility, but again, not at the top of the list. The Cloaked Schemer might have come up with this whole thing as revenge for her turning him down, but I don't think so. Same goes for Xaldin and Luxord, both of whom are also on the list for the exact same reason. None of them go for having their pride scorched like that. Onyx turned all of them down in humorously sarcastic ways when they all decided they wanted her to warm their beds. But I don't think any of them came up with this. _

_Heading the top of the list is Number IV. Vexen. The Chilly Academic proposed to a "mutually beneficial relationship of an extremely physical nature" (can't believe anybody would actually talk like that...) whilst in earshot of Xigbar, Lexaus, and myself after a meeting; yeah, he really did say that. I was a bit too surprised to burst out laughing or I would have. Vexen was always too formal for his own good, but that was beyond ridiculous. Onyx, however, had no such problem with laughing like a loon. She told him that she was not interested in getting boned by an "uptight, lily-white, ever-so-frozen mad scientist" like him. That got me and Xigbar laughing as well as Marluxia, who had been walking by when she said that. Vexen, as one might expect, was both furious and humiliated. Not a good combination. _

_Besides, he had plenty of time to plan. Onyx and I had a mission to tend to in Agrabah, so we were gone for a few days after that. _

_I think we both knew that something big was coming the night before we went back to the Castle that Never Was. We just wouldn't leave each other alone that last night after we had succeeded in taking out our target. I'd get tired from the last round and she'd say that she needed me one more time before rolling me over and climbing on top after a quick blowjob to get the flag up. She'd tell me to leave her alone and go to sleep, and I'd just tongue-lash her until she was screaming for me to get inside her. We went like that all night, demanding that the one of us get the other off one more time, the other so exhausted that the one that still needed the other had to get them ready and want it too. But it was an experience I wouldn't mind repeating, even if I was extremely sore the next day. I mean, if the friction had affected me that much, how the heck was Onyx even walking? Still, I think both of us would have done it again and again and again without hesitation, because we really did enjoy each other's company. I guess if we had been whole when we met, it could have been said that we were in love. _

_But we both were Nobodies, and I still am. We don't have hearts. We are incapable of love, only echoes of true emotions. Onyx and I had deep affection for each other, so I guess that means that we could have been in love if we had had hearts. _

_Whatever. In any case, we just couldn't let go of each other. The last time was never enough. We finally fell asleep because we just couldn't move anymore. If I concentrate hard enough, I can still feel her on top of me, her head pillowed on my chest and our arms wrapped around each other, my fingers tangled in the silk that was her hair. I can still feel the last kiss we gave each other before falling into dreamless oblivion. _

_I don't know what the hell it could be called, but it was as close to love as two Nobodies can get. _

_Too bad we didn't find out anything more. Given a bit more time, we really could have figured it out. The truth behind this fiery dream we shared in the deepest shadows. _

_Too bad reality was waiting for us back at the Castle that Never Was. _


	5. Shattered Darkness

**Queen's Quornor: **Ok, both and my computer are being bitches at the moment, so there is no summary or disclaimer for this chapter. Refer to previous chapters if thou shouldst desire to readest those offerings. As always, please read and review! And yes, 'upspake' is indeed a word. Oh, if you want to know what Onyx's hair looks like, think of a style that's a cross between Nero the Sable, Shalua Rui, and Riku's hair (hope you've played Dirge of Cerberus, or you'll just have to find the first two on the Net somewhere).

Shattered Darkness

_When we got back to the castle, Demyx met us at the entrance to the castle-wing that held the living quarters. He told us that Xemnas had called a meeting, and that it was essential that all members of the Organization were present. Neither I nor Onyx had any idea what this was about, but we called our darkness and teleported to the Throne Room, directly onto our respective high chairs. We were the last to arrive; everyone else had been waiting for us. _

_I searched around just in case this was about another Nobody - was Organization XIII about to be upgraded to Organization XIV? - but there was no-one standing in the center of the room. I looked at Onyx; she was just as confused as I was. _

_I can remember that entire horrible night. The things that were said... I can't erase them from my head. Maybe if I put them down here, they'll finally leave me alone. I hope. _

_Xemnas didn't waste time with the usual plesantries. He just looked at us with those gold hawk-eyes of his, and breathed a statement that made everyone's blood run cold._

_"There is...a TRAITOR...among us."_

_All of us were staring at him now. He didn't say anything until prompted by Xaldin. "What do you mean, Esteemed Superior?" _

_"I mean precisely what I said. There is a traitor counted amongst our number, a Nobody that has joined within the past six months. One to whom we have extended our trust and our companionship, offering a place where they can be accorded power and honor while they await the reclaiming of their hearts, a home in this lonely existence we must call 'life.'"_

_I personally thought he was laying it on a bit thick, but then again this was Xemnas. He likes drama. In any case, he had said it was a member of the Organization who had joined within the past six months. That narrowed it down to four members: Luxord, Marluxia, Larxene, and Onyx. They had all joined within that time-frame. I thought it was probably either Marluxia or Larxene. Heh, if this hearing had taken place a year later, I would have been absolutely right. _

_Xemnas continued with his rant for a while, talking about how this traitor had taken advantage of us and all that we offered them, blah blah blah, and then he finally got to the point. "And who do you think it is, my brothers and sisters in emptiness? Who do you believe has chosen to betray us, to cut us so deeply?"_

_"Might I ask a question?" It was Zexion who spoke up. _

_"Of course, VI." Fearless Leader sounded pleasant. _Never_ a good thing. _

_"What exactly is this traitor planning on doing? What is so grievious that all of us are called to watch him or her singled out and summarily punished?" His eyes strayed to Marluxia as he said this. I wonder if he thought the Graceful Assassin was the traitor?_

_Xemnas smiled languidly as Zexion finished speaking, and placed his hand over the empty space in his chest, the empty spot all of us share. "Why, I would have thought that a brilliant mind such as yourself would be able to figure it out with ease. The traitor is planning to displace myself and all of my supporters, after swaying several of you over to the side of rebellion, and destroying the one thing we all desire more than anything else..." I leaned slightly forward at this point, my fingers tightening on the arms of my throne. If I had had a heart, it would have been hammering at the top of my throat. I knew what he was about to say. "...Kingdom Hearts." _

_"No!" The word burst from many throats simultaneously. I couldn't begin to tell you who spoke up and who remained silent; all I knew was that Onyx (her throne was directly across from mine) and I were two of the screamers. _

_"Yes, my brethren. This malcontent was planning on destroying that which all of us have worked so hard to create, to duplicate, and claiming it and this Organization for their own. Had this plot gone undetected, all of us would have moved so much closer to fading before our hearts became ours once more. Some of us may have even succumbed to the darkness before this third Kingdom Hearts was completed. None of us desire such a thing, and so the traitor has been ousted. Our Kingdom Hearts is safe."_

_"Who is the traitor?" Sa'ix upspake, his fingers digging holes into the stone that formed his throne. He looked outwardly calm, but I would be willing to be a couple thousand munny that he was enraged. Sa'ix does not, as a rule, lose control. Got it memorized?_

_Very good. Continuing on..._

_"Who told you of this?" I had to ask. "Who is your source, Xemnas?" _

_"My source is none of your concern, VIII. He came to me after the traitor attempted to lure him onto their side, and told me everything I needed to know. As for the identity of this miscreant..." He raised his arm high into the air, and then lowered it, index finger extended. I watched it come down almost in slow-motion. I had a very, _very_ bad feeling I knew who he would be pointing at..._

_And I prayed to any god that was listening that I would be wrong._

_"Her identity is none other than Number XIII. Onyx, the Maiden of Darkest Shadow."_

_Rarely am I so upset to be correct about a hunch._

_As for Onyx, she looked as if her eyes were about ready to fall out of their sockets, bounce along the floor, and come to a stop at Fearless Leader's dull black boots. I could tell from that look alone, not just from all the time I had spent with her, that she was innocent of this crime. Onyx wanted her heart back as much as any of us, perhaps even more. Furthermore, she had told me more than once that she did not desire leadership. She just wanted to do her own thing, same as me. She'd only joined the Organization because she had no real choice in the matter. _

_"Well, XIII? What do you have to say in your defense?" Xemnas sounded almost amused. I wanted to _kill _him then. Still do. Bet I won't get a chance._

_I could see her swallow hard, and try to speak a few times before she finally managed to get a word or three out. "Esteemed Superior, why would I do such a thing? I want my heart back as much as any of you do, and furthermore I would probably fade before another Kingdom Hearts could be completed as well. What reason would I have to dethrone you or any of my superiors, especially since I really do not desire a position of leadership? Destroying this Kingdom Hearts and displacing you would amount to a suicide attempt on my part!" _

_"True, it would be..." He seemed to consider this for a moment, and I genuinely thought he was going to dismiss this whole thing and let her go. Silly me. "But I trust my source a lot more than I trust you, XIII. My source has been in the Organization far longer than you, after all. He has given me no reason to distrust him." _

_Another reason I don't think Larxene played tall-tale stool pigeon. Xemnas said 'he,' not 'she.'_

_"I have always served you faithfully, Esteemed Superior. I have created more Nobodies than anybody else in the Organization, and consequently am personally responsible for most of the Heartless running around collecting hearts for our Kingdom Hearts. Nobody else wants this to succeed as much as I do. Why would I betray you for something so paltry to myself as the leadership of the Organization?" Her points were valid, but there was the slightest quiver in her voice. I don't think anyone else caught it, but I can't be sure. I mean, I only caught it because I've spent so much time around her. Trouble is, I think Fearless Leader may have heard it. _

_"True, you have." She relaxed slightly at that. "But you have betrayed the Organization, XIII, and for that you must be punished. Take her!" Samurai Nobodies came out of nowhere, landing on the arms of Onyx's throne and surrounding her with a cage of swords. She tried to escape into her darkness, but Larxene had a flash of intuition. She started calling down lightening bolts around Onyx's position, startling her and making her lose concentration. The Savage Nymph kept it up, lighting up the area so she couldn't utilize her powers and escape. Same principle that had worked against Onyx in my and Xigbar's fight with her: if there's too much light, she can't use her darkness. She was, for all points and purposes, trapped. _

_Her eyes flew to me, but as much as I wanted to help her, I couldn't do anything. I mean, we had something special, but I didn't want to be punished too. Especially not after we all found out the severity of the punishment. _

_Rumors had been passed around for years that Xemnas had the ability to turn a human-likeness Nobody into a Dusk, but we mostly just laughed them off. Xigbar, Xaldin, and Vexen were the only ones who didn't seem to be able to crack a grin at such an absurd statement. _

_I guess it's because they had seen the process. When I asked around later on, I found out that Numbers V through XII had never seen a member of the Organization turned into a Dusk. That means that the last time such a thing had occured, it had been prior to Lexaus' joining. I hadn't seen it happen before. I never would have dreamed Xemnas could actually do something like that. _

_Seems the bastard can. _

_"For high treason against your Superior and our Kingdom Hearts, I sentance you, Onyx, the Maiden of Darkest Shadow, Number XIII, to be transformed into a Dusk at midnight tommorow."_

_"Excuse me, Esteemed Superior." Sa'ix pointed a finger at her, looking almost as if he thought her to be some sort of slime scraped off the bottom of his boot. "But if she is to be punished, then why is she to have a full twenty-four hours to search for an opportunity to escape? Why not turn her now?" _

_"Because I want her to suffer. I want her to think about how she will never again be able to think for herself, how her precious freedom and independence will soon be lost forever. I want her to fall into despair, knowing that her individuality will be stolen away and her powers shall be transformed from something unique and nigh unmatchable into something mundane and all-too common." He smiled at her coldly. "Everything that she is will soon be gone, and she will be unable to attain it until her heart is returned to her, when our Kingdom Hearts is finished. I want her to sink into the deepest, _darkest_ despair, knowing these things, and so she shall suffer. This, too, is a part of her punishment." He pointed to Xaldin and Larxene. "Take her to the dungeon. You will know her prison cell when you see it. It is the brightest one in the castle." _

_"With pleasure." Numbers III and XII took her away while the Samurai followed, Xaldin using his superior strength to keep her arms pinned behind her back and Larxene flashing her lightening everywhere, preventing any escape attempts on Onyx's part. As for my...whatever-she-was, she just bent her head forward so her long hair fell across her face, shielding it from view while she was paraded out of the room. But right before that wealth of blue-black hair slithered down from behind her shoulders and her top-knot pony-tail thing, I saw tears sliding down her cheeks to soak into the neckline of her robe. _

_This was wrong. She was innocent, but she was going to be, for all points and purposes, killed in twenty-four hours. I started looking around the room as inconspicuously as I could then, trying to see if I could find anyone who might have lied to Xemnas like that. _

_I could barely keep the flames under control as I noticed that Vexen was smiling. _

_I wanted to _murder_ the bastard. I am still not one-hundred percent certain he was the perpetrator, but I am ninety-seven point nine percent convinced. Even if he wasn't the one who did it, he's the one I wanted to hurt the most. Nobody else was smiling as Onyx was led away. Nobody. Not even Larxene. _

_That's why I killed Vexen in Castle Oblivion. Yeah, I had other reasons to flame him to a well-done crisp, but that was the main reason. Far as I'm concerned, Onyx's blood is on his oh-so-clean hands. Too bad the Keyblade kid was there in the castle with his buddies, especially that white-haired kid. If I had had the time to spare, I would have made sure Vexen was begging for me to kill him by the time I was finished with him. _

_I normally don't indulge in torture or unnecessary pain. But for Vexen, I would have made an exception. _

_But my thoughts soon turned away from the Cold-Hearted Bastard (bad pun, I know. I don't think he had one in the first place) to the Maiden of Darkest Shadow. My woman. Knowing Xemnas, there would be no way she could possibly escape her undeserved fate tommorow. _

_I had to see her one more time._

_Before the flame was extinguished forever. _


	6. Fires Extinguished

**Summary: **Why was Axel so hell-bent on getting Roxas back after he left the Organization? Where did those ink-drops beneath his eyes come from? Axel's journal might shed some light on the subject... The original Number XIII...

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Square Enix or Disney. If I did, I would be a very, very rich woman, even richer if I lent out men like Axel, Leon, and Sephiroth to people willing to pay the price for a period of time with them. I do, however, own all rights to the OC in here.

**Queen's Quornor: **Wow, working on two chapters in the same night! I must be in a good mood! And do you know why I'm in such a good mood? It's because I've been reading my PSM, and found out that Square Enix is planning on redoing Chain of Memories and bringing it to the PS2! I AM BEYOND THRILLED!!! I will finally be able to find out what the heck happens in complete detail in Castle Oblivion and play through as Riku! SO VERY HAPPY!!! (ahem) Sorry about that. Axel is telling me to shut up and get writing. Or at least stop raving. So I will. He's pretty damn creative as to where he burns you if you piss him off. Oh, and I apologize to the Reno lovers out there. One of my friends and I were discussing who Axel's true identity could have been, and we settled on Reno. Don't think I hate him, because he's awesome, but I just felt like I had to throw that in here, especially since Onyx is the Nobody of a character I made to pair Reno with in a fic I never got around to writing. Axel again. I now have no hair. BTW, sorry if this chapter is depressing. I was listening to Nickelback's "Far Away" while typing this. Song seems to fit the situation and the characters, somehow.

Fires Extinguished

_I had to wait until curfew hours to sneak down to the dungeon. Xemnas, you see, has imposed a curfew on the Nobodies in the Castle that Never Was. He says it's so our discipline will increase and we will practice with our weapons instead of wandering about doing absolutely nothing, but I'll tell you what I think his real reason is. Xemnas, you see, has a thing going with Sa'ix. I think he placed this curfew on us so he can bang the Lunar Diviner in relative peace and quiet. I've walked in on him a few times just in time to see Sa'ix diving under the bed or shutting the closet door or something, and I know Demyx was treated to the sight of Fearless Leader reaming VII. I think that may have scarred the kid for life. _

_I'm getting off-track again. Must be more nervous than I thought I was. Regardless, once I was absolutely certain that the hallways would be empty, I ran down to the dungeons and started looking for 'the brightest cell of all.' Believe me, it wasn't that hard to find. I rounded a corner and was suddenly blinded by the light. _

_Literally. The cell they had dumped Onyx in was ringed by so many fires, lights, and other assorted darkness-banishing devices that I could feel myself getting a tan. It took a few minutes for me to let my eyes adjust, and then I approached the bars. Onyx was sitting against the far wall with her knees drawn up to her chest, staring at absolutely nothing in particular. There was complete hopelessness in her amytheyst eyes, something I had never seen in them before. I think if I had a heart, it would have been breaking at that moment. I just wanted to get her out of that deep blue funk. _

_"You know, you gotta blink sometimes. I hear not doing it is bad for your eyes." _

_She looked up at me, and I could see mingled surprise and relief in her eyes. She got up and raced to the cells, gripping two of them and leaning her head against the ones in the middle. "Axel."_

_"Yeah, that's my name. Just don't wear it out." I tried to give her a grin, but neither of us was laughing. Humor just seemed really inappropriate right then. Know what I mean? _

_I sighed, and went up to the bars, taking her hands off the bars and interlocking our fingers. I just had to touch her, one last time. "I'm sorry I didn't help you in there, Shad."_

_"It's no big deal. I didn't expect you to." She gave me this bittersweet smile, a shadow of its full beauty. "Xemnas didn't single you out, after all. You're far too useful to him, Flamer." _

_Those were our pet names for each other, Shad and Flamer. Don't know where they came from. We just started calling each other that in the middle of fucking one night, and the names stuck. _

_"We thought you were too, because your powers are so damn unique. Hell, I would have thought he would do this to _me_ before he did this to you." I leaned my head against the bars, and she lowered her head as well so that our heads touched through the separation. "Xemnas has never liked me, and he did order you to his rooms that one time. I figured he'd be a little more lenient with you." _

_"That was just him asserting his dominance over me. He never called me back after that one night, remember? He's way too absorbed with Sa'ix to possibly be interested in me." She laughed humorlessly. "If anything, he'd see me as a threat. Remember, he's got control of darkness-oriented powers as well. If someone went to him with some kind of lie about me, it would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of me, a Nobody he doesn't have complete control over."_

_"Yeah, I know." My fingers tightened around hers. "I swear, I'm not going to forget about you, Shad. You're as much a part of me as I am of you. Part of me is going to die with you tommorow." _

_"Hey, that means that as long as you live, I will too." She reached out and gently stroked my cheek. "So long as someone remembers them, a person is never truly gone."_

_"But where am I supposed to keep you? If I were whole, I'd say that you'll be in my heart, but that doesn't mean anything to us. We don't have hearts." I leaned my head into her touch, not wanting to forget this. I know it made me look like an oversized cat, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want this to end. _

_"Then keep me in your head. You still have a brain, after all. I've seen you use it." She stepped even closer to the bars, dropping her head again so I couldn't see her face. "Axel... I'm scared."_

_"Don't be. If you lose everything tommorow, I'll take care of it." She looked up, and I think she knew what I meant, because a tear dripped down her cheek and she smiled sadly. _

_"Are you sure you can? I mean..."_

_"I don't have a heart, remember?" _

_"I know." She grabbed me through the bars and pulled me as close to her as she possibly could. We both needed this near-embrace, so I didn't resist. "Thanks, Flamer." _

_"Least I can do." _

_We stood there for a really long time, I have no idea how long. As long as we were together, we felt complete. We always had. _

_And that night was the last time we would ever feel complete. _

_"If I had a heart, Axel, it would have belonged to you. You know that, right?" Her voice sounded pretty muffled. Guess it was because she was basically burrowing into my chest through the bars. _

_"Yeah, I do. Mine would've been your's, if I had one." I reached through the bars and held her, stroking her hair and back. Fuck the bars. I had to hold her. "Do you think we may have known each other...before?"_

_"I don't know. When I first saw you, it was as if I recognized you from somewhere. But I have no idea where." She relaxed slightly. "It would explain where this ring came from." _

_I frowned. "What ring?" _

_"I woke up with it on my finger, and kept it ever since." She moved a little bit back from me and removed one of her gloves, revealing a ring on her left hand. It was made of pure, polished obsidian, just absorbed the light and held it, refusing to let it go. I thought it suited her very well indeed. She pulled it off her hand. "There's an inscription inside the band. It says 'from Reno.' I don't know who this 'Reno' is, but I think..."_

_"You think I may have been him when I had a heart?" _

_She shrugged, and handed me the ring. "Here. Just something to remember me by." _

_I didn't need a ring to remember her, but I took it anyway. I wanted to make her happy. _

_We stood there in each other's arms, the bars a cold, hard wall between us. At long last, I knew it was time to go. "I'll never forget you, Shad. And I promise, if he takes everything away from you tommorow, I'll take care of it."_

_"I know you will." Both of us had tears in our eyes at this point. "See ya in the next life, Flamer. Take good care of yourself until then, ok?" _

_"I promise." We heard a scuffle from around the corner. Someone was coming. "Good-bye, Shad." Then I teleported out, leaving her alone in her cell once more. There were so many things I wanted to say to her. So much more than I had time to say. But I got the main stuff out. _

_I put her ring on as soon as I got back to my rooms. Then I, big tough bad boy Axel, the great Flurry of Dancing Flames, buried my head in a pillow and cried. _

_A few hours later, I got out of bed and did up my eyes in kohl, same as always. But this time I added something, two black tears right under my eyes. A sign of my mourning that none of the others would question. I'd done different designs with my kohl before, just trying to make them stand out even more. I'd settled into simply outlining them, but still messed around some. As I stared into my reflection, I told myself that my days of experimentation were over. This was me now, and I wasn't going to change the design until the day I either faded, or got my heart back. Another self-reminder of what I was losing. _

_Then I steeled myself, and went to the Throne Room. Xemnas would want all of us there, to witness Onyx's punishment. I was one of the first to arrive, and, as expected, nobody thought anything of my new look. Demyx even told me that he thought it looked really cool. Kid's way too innocent for his own good sometimes. But I did appreciate the compliment. _

_Once Fearless Leader arrived, we all teleported onto our thrones. The punishment was beginning. _

_Onyx was led into the room by Larxene, lightning bolts once more crashing down around her in a brilliant cage. There were shackles around her wrists attached to a chain, which the Savage Bitch was using to jerk her along. I could tell Larxene was enjoying this. Her biggest rival in the Organization, about to lose the beauty and individuality that every man in our number, including her precious Marluxia, admired and coveted so very much? It's a wonder she wasn't dancing circles around Onyx. _

_She took her to the very center of the room and stood off the to side, as far away as the chain would let her get. But not before slamming her fist into her rival's stomach, knocking the wind out of her and making her double over in pain, holding her stomach. It was damned _hard_ not to flame-broil the bitch then and there, but I managed to hold onto my temper. That's one of my regrets, that the Keyblade Kid killed her before I did. That's a victory I would have savored. _

_Xemnas read out her crimes one more time, and then told her that she would belong to him and the entire Organization until such time as Kingdom Hearts was completed and our hearts returned to us. Even while her freedom and self were gone, she would continue to serve us. Then he said it was midnight, and summoned his power, directing it upon Onyx and Onyx alone. A spear of red light flew from his hands to her chest, slamming into her hard enough to knock her back a couple of steps. _

_Her eyes searched me out, two thrones away from Xemnas'. _

_And then the transformation began. _

_She kept her eyes on me the entire time. She watched me while her body shrunk and her hair shriveled up, as her black robes turned white and melded to her flesh. Those purple eyes stayed on my aqua ones even as her fingers melted together and the breasts I had admired for so long shrank into her chest. She grew unbelievably thin and her lips split her head nearly in two, a metal zipper appearing out of nowhere. Her eyes disappeared into her head as her skull grew pointy and all outward signs of the woman I had known and shared so many nights of passion with vanished. Then the symbol of the Organization appeared on her head, and then it was done._

_Onyx had been transformed into a Dusk. _

_Her wrists were too thin to stay in the shackles now. They fell to the floor with a loud _clang!_ as she stared up at Xemnas, swaying/dancing/moving in place like all the Dusks do while she awaited his orders. He grinned at her while the other Nobodies simply stared, visibly horrified. Only Vexen seemed unfazed by all this. Yet another reason I am sooo glad I burned his ass. Bastard deserved far more than what I did to him, for smiling while Onyx was turned into something completely opposite from the free spirit she once had been. Xemnas told her to walk through the castle and join the other Dusks outside, in the City that Never Was. None of the lesser Nobodies, you see, had been allowed in the castle today. I guesss Xemnas didn't want the ones he had transformed like this to recall what happened to them, and turn against us. All the Dusks look the same, so there's no telling which one were former Organization members and which were not. Onyx, her legs stretching far beyond what she had formerly been capable of, began walking out of the Throne Room. _

_After some trifling matters, the meeting was dismissed. I don't even remember what was said and done. I was just...numb. Painfully conscious of Onyx's empty throne across from me. As soon as I could, I got the hell out of that room. _

_I waited by one of the doors I knew she would have to pass through. Sure enough, Onyx soon arrived, still walking. She stopped when I stepped in front of her. I knew what I would probably have to do, but I wanted to make sure of it. I examined every inch of her for some reminder of the woman I had cared so deeply for, trying to find some reason to prevent what I had promised to do. _

_There was nothing._

_"Onyx?" I asked. She didn't give any sign that she had heard or understood. _

_That's when I found my confirmation. The Onyx I had known, had shared so much with, the woman I would have loved if I had a heart, was gone. This Dusk was an abomination, a shell of what she had been. _

_I had a promise to keep. _

_I summoned my chakrams, said I was sorry, and then obliterated her. I burned the ashes in my fires, scoured the area thoroughly with my flames, until I was certain no trace of her remained. Xemnas would never know that she had never made it outside. All the Dusks look alike, so there would be no way he would find out. _

_Then I just walked away, locking my memories of her deep inside my head. _

_Xemnas had killed her, not me. _

_The fires had been extinguished. _

AOAOAOAOAOAOAOAOAOAOAO

Queen: _This isn't the end of it! Stay tuned for the next chapter! Now excuse me while I go find a wig..._


	7. Rekindling the Flame

**Summary: **Why was Axel so hell-bent on getting Roxas back after he left the Organization? Where did those ink-drops beneath his eyes come from? Axel's journal might shed some light on the subject... The original Number XIII...

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Square Enix or Disney. If I did, I would be a very, very rich woman, even richer if I lent out men like Axel, Leon, and Sephiroth to people willing to pay the price for a period of time with them. I do, however, own all rights to the OC in here.

**Queen's Quornor: **Sorry it took so long for this chapter to get up. I've been a bit too depressed to write from Axel's POV lately. Just some problems with the Devil May Cry fandom. I'm soldering on, however. This fic WILL get finished sooner or later. I've got to have SOMWHERE that is relatively flame-free, after all. Anyway, read, review, and enjoy.

Rekindling the Flame

_I don't know how long I just slouched through my days. I had no one to laugh with, no one to tease and sleep with. Not even bugging Demyx or Luxord was fun anymore. I went out on missions, did what I was told, but I was just completely numb. What's the point of going through the trouble of living if there's no one to share it with you? A friend, a lover, or anything? _

_I was _this close_ to just letting myself fade and rejoin Onyx when Organization XII gained another new member, getting renamed as Organization XIII _again.

_Marluxia and I had been sent out to Neverland to try and turn Captain Hook into a Heartless, and thus a Nobody, when Xemnas called us back to the World that Never Was. Of course we obeyed, being at his beck and call as we were, and found out from Zexion that there was a newbie getting his number tonight. That would be the point when my non-existent heart sank. Xemnas had said that he was going to dissolve Onyx's throne back into the stone from which it was raised, but he had kept putting off getting Lexaus to do the job. So every time we were all called together, I had to stare at her empty throne across from mine, envisioning her sitting there with that knowing smirk on her lips, mirth dancing in those purple eyes of hers while I fidgeted, eager to get out of there and back in the field. She was just as eager as I was to get the hell out of there, but she was far more controlled than I was. _

_Yeah, I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of some newbie taking her place and number. _

_Even less so when I found out that the newbie was a _kid_. He was even younger than Demyx, for crying out loud! _

_Xemnas introduced him as Roxas, told us that Zexion had found him fighting some Heartless in Hollow Bastion while he was spying on Maleficent's army. Upon seeing what he was using to defeat the damned living shadows, he had immediately recruited him. Fearless Leader said that he had forgiven this breach of command when he was told of the boy's significance. _

_Xigbar spoke up, asking what was so special about this kid that Xemnas would let VI off the hook so easily. Roxas just glared at him, and held out his hands. Two weapons, a white one and a black one, appeared in his hands then, and there was a loud _thunk!_ as the jaws of everyone except Xemnas and Zexion hit the floor. _

_Kiddo was using _Keyblades.

_And not just any Keyblades. He was using Oblivion and Oathkeeper, two of the most powerful ones there were, second only to the Ultima Keyblade. I think it was Demyx who asked Xemnas why the hell Roxas was using those. Xemnas responded by saying that the Keyblade Kid who had been running around making a total mess of Maleficent's plans had apparently lost his heart for a brief time, before one of the Princesses of Heart restored it to his Heartless. Roxas, his Nobody, had been left behind. Alone._

_Xemnas, of course, would forgive anything to have someone with such power on our side. _

_There was no demonstration-fight this time. Quite frankly, none of us wanted to face this kid in battle. Keyblades can destroy us, after all. So we were dismissed as soon as Roxas was named Number XIII, the Key of Destiny. _

_After the meeting, Xemnas approached me with Roxas in tow. He said that he wanted XIII to have some experience outside the World that Never Was, and since I was out in the field more than anyone else, he was trusting the boy to my care. I had a really hard time controlling my temper then. I mean, Onyx wasn't even a year in her 'grave' and here he was giving this newbie her number, her throne, her partner, and hell, even her rooms! I was so far beyond mad it wasn't even funny. _

_But I just couldn't hate Roxas. He wouldn't let me. Kid was really grim and quiet at first, but after we had a few missions together he started to open up. We became friends, and suddenly I had a reason to live again. Roxas was indeed necessary to the Organization, but he wasn't exactly close to any of the others. He sometimes palled around with Demyx, but that was it. He hated most of them. I was the only one he could talk to, and I just felt like I had to be there for him. _

_No, not like _that_. I told you before, after Onyx was destroyed I became celibate. Roxas got a single session of "me master, you slave" with Xemnas and Sa'ix, but that's it. He didn't sleep around with any of the others, like _some _people did (Luxord... Zexion... Larxene...), but I think if I had been willing to take it to the next level, he wouldn't have told me 'no.' But I kept things to a level of friendship, nothing more than that. _

_But as much as Roxas mattered to me, I never really forgot Onyx. I did everything in my power to protect Kiddo from the machinations of the other Organization members, but what I couldn't help him with, he managed by himself. Still, once he started thinking about the implications of his being able to use the Keyblade, I couldn't help him anymore. Especially after that Riku kid challenged him. He beat him, but when he saw that Riku had a Keyblade too, he decided he had to find out the truth. Xemnas, you see, had decided that nobody was going to tell Roxas anything. I tried to convince him to stay with the Organization, but Kiddo just didn't care anymore. He had to know the truth, no matter what the ultimate cost to himself. _

_So I let him go, even if it felt like I was losing _her_ all over again. _

_When I found him in that stupid digital Twilight Town, I wanted so badly for him to come back with me. I was getting a second chance to save my friend from himself and the others, something I never got with Onyx. But he didn't remember me! To this day, I still don't know why he forgot all about me and the Organization. _

_But I know that it hurt. I wasn't worth remembering? _

_Bullshit. _

_I eventually convinced myself that this wasn't my friend. This Roxas was just a pretender, someone masquerading as the kid I had known and fought beside. An abomination. _

_And just like the Dusk, the abomination, that my Onyx had been turned into, this Roxas-thing had to be destroyed. _

_But when I fought him below the mansion, I realized that he was indeed the same Roxas. Niether of us quite knew what had happened to his head, but he remembered me. And I knew what was going to happen to him. While I was waiting for him, I had done some snooping. I had seen Sora in his tank. _

_No matter how that fight would have ended, I would have lost my best friend. _

_We agreed to meet in the next life. _

_But I didn't want it to end there. _

_When I heard that the Keyblade Kid, Sora, was back in business and running around killing Heartless and Nobodies, I got this really crazy idea. I knew that Namine, the girl that Marluxia and the others were studying in Castle Oblivion (may they all rest in flaming pieces), was really the Nobody of Kairi, a close friend of Sora. Namine had this ability to manipulate Sora's memories, and so I thought "maybe she can influence Roxas too." But Namine had disappeared. _

_So I decided to get the next best thing. _

_Kairi. Forgotten Princess of Hollow Bastion, formerly known as Radiant Garden. _

_My idea was that she had a similar connection to Sora, and so if I kept her long enough, he was bound to come running. And with him would come Roxas. Maybe, when she and Sora were together again, I would have a window of time where I could talk to my friend, just one more time. _

_But it didn't work out that way. Sneaky little girl gave me the slip, and that blue-haired son of a bitch and a sick crocodile, Sa'ix, managed to capture her. Now she's locked up in the castle dungeon, and I can't risk sneaking back in there. The few remaining members of Organization XIII (or should I say Organization III?) are all on high alert; Sora isn't the only person they're looking for. _

_If I even show my face around there, I'm dead meat. _

_'Course, I was a hunted Nobody the minute I decided to go after Kairi. Funny, the things you go through for the people you care about..._

_Guess it doesn't matter. Sora and his two partners, the dog-thing-guy and the duck nobody can understand, will be entering the World of Darkness soon. If what I think's gonna happen happens, they're going to need my help. Hell, they're going to need it anyway. Unless I, or someone else with control over the dark paths, help them out by opening a door, they're stuck there fighting a crap-load of Nobodies that Sa'ix sent to guard the path. Hundreds of Dusks and Assassins._

_It'll be tough to take 'em all out. _

_But it's not like my life's worth much anymore, anyway. And I do owe him, for what I did to Kairi. _

_Plus, Roxas is in there somewhere. This may be my last chance to see him again. _

_I don't think I'm gonna come out of this alive._

_Onyx... Just a little longer, babe. _

_I'll see you soon. _

Queen: _We finally have some third person POV in the next chapter! Stay tuned, for this is not the end!_


	8. Eternal Fire and Shadow

**Summary: **Why was Axel so hell-bent on getting Roxas back after he left the Organization? Where did those ink-drops beneath his eyes come from? Axel's journal might shed some light on the subject... The original Number XIII...

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Square Enix or Disney. If I did, I would be a very, very rich woman, even richer if I lent out men like Axel, Leon, and Sephiroth to people willing to pay the price for a period of time with them. I do, however, own all rights to the OC in here.

**Queen's Quornor: **I had originally thought to end this with Riku reading through the journal and then reflecting upon the enigma that was Axel, but then this idea hit me. Hope you all enjoy it, because this is the final chapter. Oh, and due to the fact that I think Axel is the Nobody of Reno, and since Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, and Cloud (presumably Tifa, as well) all came from Radiant Garden/Hollow Bastion in the game, I'm making it the new name of the FFVII planet, Gaia. It underwent a name-change after Ansem became the leader. So just keep that in mind and don't come after me with pitchforks and torches when you find out exactly where Axel is. To those of you who haven't seen FFVII: Advent Children, please accept my deepest apologies. Much fluff in this chapter.

Eternal Fire and Shadow 

_Damn... Anybody get the number of the gummi ship that hit me?_

Axel opened his eyes slowly, but immediately shut them again as light pierced his aqua orbs, rocketing straight into his aching brain. He raised his hands to try and massage away the pain, but of course, it failed. He finally just dropped his hands back on the ground below him and lay there, trying to figure out where he was.

_Let's see... _

_Kicked Nobody ass... _

_Put everything I had into that last attack..._

_Talked with Sora..._

_Apologized about Kairi..._

_Talked about Roxas..._

_Opened a path..._

_Faded..._

_So where the hell am I? Aren't I supposed to be...non-existant?_

The idea made him chuckle. Wouldn't it just figure if, having not really existed in 'life,' he existed in 'death?'

He moved a hand up to his chest, trying to feel for a heart-beat.

_Yep, it's still there. Organ is, anyway. _

_Emotional heart... Naaaahhh. _

Even in death, he was denied his heart. If that wasn't enough to give it back to him, then what was?

"Axel?"

The voice made his heart skip a beat. It was a woman's voice, silky-smooth and melodious, soft as velvet. Black velvet. He knew that voice...

He'd wanted to hear it for two years now, more than anything else.

"Onyx?" He turned his head in the direction her voice had come from, still unwilling to open his eyes. The pounding in his skull wouldn't allow that.

"Flamer, what the hell happened to you? You look like shit." Gentle fingers stroked along his cheekbone and forehead, smoothed his hair away from his face. "I know you were eager to see me, but _come on_. You didn't have to tear yourself to pieces to get here."

"Nice to 'see' you too, Shad. Not that I can, but it's still nice. And anyway, where is 'here?'"

"This is the Lifestream. Our homeworld, a world called Radiant Garden, once known as Gaia, is nestled in it's all-encompassing embrace. It brings life to the planet, and gives life to her inhabitants. When those same inhabitants die, they return to the Lifestream, waiting until they are reincarnated and born again. It is a never-ending cycle, birth, death, rebirth. I've been waiting for you, ever since Xemnas transformed me." Warm coolness spread throughout his body, soothing his aching head and healing wounds he wasn't even aware he had incurred. "There. That should make you feel better."

Axel sat up, putting a hand behind him to stave off the sudden vertigo, and opened his eyes. He was surrounded by a white light, lying in a field of pink and yellow flowers. Everything seemed light and misty, not really there.

He turned his head to the side. Onyx, his woman, was kneeling beside him, still clad in the black robes of the Organization. Her purple eyes were alight with some powerful emotion, something he had never seen in them before, visible even through the curtain of midnight hair that covered the right eye. She was as perfect as he remembered. Even though she seemed a bit...transparent.

_Wait a minute... Emotion?_

"Onyx... Did you get your heart back?" he asked.

She smiled. "Yes, Flamer. I am whole again. Or I will be, once I get back in Saleeda's body. Oh, and I like what you've done with your eyes. Makes a statement."

He blinked. "Um... Thanks. Who the hell is Saleeda?"

"My original self. Your heart is with her, Axel. Once you recieve that, you'll be whole again too." She reached out and hugged him tightly, burrowing her head into the base of his throat. Despite her see-through state, she was still as corporeal as before. "I have my Axel back, and she will have her Reno."

"Yeah, you have me back. Just like I have my Onyx back." They stood, and he tipped her chin up, gazing into her wine-dark eyes before devouring her mouth in a heated kiss. For long moments they stood there, absorbed in each other and all that they could share, before he broke off the kiss. "Out of curiosity, once I get my heart back and become this 'Reno,' will I still be able to get out of him and be Axel?"

She smiled up at him. "Am I not Onyx? It seems we can indeed get out of their bodies, out of their souls, whenever we want. But unlike before, we will not be Nobodies. Separate entities who must return to them, but now we will be able to _feel_. Our hearts cannot be taken away from us again. Ever."

"To be able to feel real emotions again..." Axel smiled and held her, nuzzling his cheek against her silken hair. "You know, I always thought that when I saw you again, I would immediately throw you to the floor and have my filthy, perverted way with you. But now..." He drew back to look into her eyes. "I think I want my heart back first. There's something I want to tell you, but I need my heart for it."

"To be 'heart-felt?'" She grinned, and took his hand, their fingers entwining in the manner of lovers. "Come with me, then. Saleeda and your heart are waiting for us."

He followed her easily, just happy to be with her again. At last, he would be able to tell her what he had wanted to tell her the first time he had fucked her, the emotion he had known he would have for her if he could feel. The emotion all the other members of Organization XIII had dreamt of feeling, but wept because they could not.

_That reminds me_...

"Have any of the other members arrived here?"

Onyx snorted. "Yeah, some of them have. Demyx, Zexion, and Marluxia have all come back here. As for the rest, I don't know. I have heard that the original six members of the Organization were from this world, but Zexion is the only one I've seen. Surprisingly, now they they've got their hearts back, none of them are really all that bad. Marluxia is actually kinda nice to hang around with."

"Been doing anything with him, Shad? 'Cause if you have, I'd have to burn his ass." Axel's fingers tightened on hers possessively. _Mine. _

But Onyx was already shaking her head. "No, we're just friends. Demyx, too. Zexion's still not someone I'd want to be alone with, but we haven't been doing anything. Marluxia spends most of his time tending the flowers." She gestured at the blossoms surrounding them. "You know how he was about his garden in Castle Oblivion. Harm a single bloom, and he'd kill you. But he's lightened up now. Demyx helps him some, but he mostly just plays with his sitar."

"And what have you been doing?" he asked.

"Nothing, really. Just sitting around, waiting for you. I've also been watching people try to restore Radiant Garden to its former glory. It's been tough for them, but they're succeeding." Onyx removed her hand from his, and wrapped the arm around his waist, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I've really missed you, Axel."

"Same here, Onyx," he drawled, his arm snaking around her slim waist. "Same here."

They continued on for a while, just enjoying each other's company, and at last Onyx spun out of his grasp and pointed to a ghost-pale tree. "They're up there."

Axel looked at the tree, his aqua eyes skeptical. "I don't see anybody."

As soon as the words left his mouth a woman jumped out of the tree, landing lightly in front of them. She looked almost exactly like Onyx, but for a few small differences. Her eyes were a deep, deep blue in place of the former Nobody's amethyst-purple, and her hair was significantly shorter, only shoulder-length. She also lacked Onyx's topknot and eye-flip. But apart from that, the two women were physically identical.

She was wearing a pair of low-riding leather pants, black leather boots, and a shiney blue corset that displayed her cleavage very well indeed. Axel noticed that there was a black choker with a blue stone around her neck, too. If he wasn't infatuated with Onyx, he would have definately wanted to bang her. She smiled and held out her hand.

"You must be Axel. I am Saleeda, Onyx's original self and Reno's steady. Youngest member of the Turks." She brought her other hand out from behind her back and casually tossed something circular and shiney in the air, catching it and tossing it again. "I think this belongs to you."

_My heart..._ He shook her hand, and held out the other one. "I think it does. May I have it back?"

Her lips quirked again. "I suppose. I do want my Reno back, after all. Here, catch." She threw it at him.

Axel just stood there, watching while the orb approached him, touched him...

Sank into his chest.

Feeling exploded throughout his body, filling his mind with images he had never seen before, but knew he had. People he had never known, places he had never been, things he could not remember ever doing. Emotions spread throughout his being, forcing out the coldness, the half-recalled memories he had lived with for so long. Fire spread in his soul, in his chest, burning away everything, changing his very being...

And a soul, both new and old, rose from the ashes.

AOAOAOAOAOAOAOAOAOAO

Onyx watched as Axel was consumed by the fires he controlled, burning away the Nobody she had longed for, the man she loved, into someone she had only met in the realms of Saleeda's memories. A lanky man with green-blue eyes, his orange-red hair cut short and spiky around his face and hanging in a long ponytail down his back, twin scars of red on either side of his face.

Saleeda whispered his name as he stretched, his untucked shirt rising to reveal his muscle-ripped stomach as he rose on the balls of his feet, his arms reaching for the sky.

"Reno..."

His head snapped forward, goggles sliding forward to cover his eyes. Cursing softly, he shoved them back into their proper place on his head and looked at the blue-eyed woman. A grin spread wide as he realized who she was. "Saleeda!" She just about knocked him over as she leapt onto him, arms and legs wrapping tightly around his body while she kissed him. Onyx just watched, her heart aching as the long-separated couple tried to climb inside each other's body via their mouths.

_Axel..._

"You called?"

Her head whipped around to see her man standing behind her, transparent as she was, the usual cocky grin twisting his lips. He held his arms out.

Unlike his original self, the former Nobody didn't remain upright when his woman barrelled into him, kissing him for all she was worth. He didn't seem to mind, however; he simply fisted his hand in her hair to hold her in place and kissed her right back, with all the passion he could possibly convey.

"Baby-girl, what happened to you? I remember telling you to run, but..." Reno finally got out, still holding onto Saleeda. She sighed and lay her head on his shoulder, still clinging to him so as not to lose him again.

"I did run. I hated myself for obeying, but I was just too scared to stop and go back to help you." Her arms tightened possessively. "I grew to hate myself, because I knew you had been killed. There were just too many of them for you to have a chance. So consumed was I, in fact, that the next time the Heartless attacked me, I didn't resist. I let myself be killed."

"And that's when I came into being." Onyx sat up, pushing the unbound half of her hair out of her face. "So... How exactly did the advent we know as Axel come about, anyway?"

Reno reached around himself and unlocked Saleeda's legs, letting her slide down to stand on her own feet but leaving her arms exactly where they were. He was equally loathe to let go of her just yet. "Like she must have mentioned before, Baby-girl here was the youngest member of the Turks, the elite group of fighters and shooters I belonged to. I was in charge of her training, and at first we absolutely couldn't stand each other. But one night that all changed."

"He had been out drinking, and got jumped in an alley. I found him there, torn up pretty badly. Took him to my place and used a Curaga on him. I saw him at his most vulnerable, and he saw me as something other than a wannabe who could potentially take his job. We were fuck-buddies a few days later."

"And steadies about a month after that." Reno smirked at the ex-Nobodies. "Moved in together and spent most of our time in bed...on the floor...in the shower...up against a wall..."

"Same as you did, from what I gather." Saleeda slipped her hands beneath her red-head's jacket, turning her head so she could look at the other couple. "We only had about half a year together, from our introduction to the very end, before our homeworld was overrun by Heartless."

"We were in bed when we got the call to get dressed, grab our weapons, and get out on the streets. It was not a pretty sight. People getting chased down and dog-piled, their hearts stolen away, kids dying, parents screaming..."

"I never really forgot that night. Black shadow-things running amok through the streets, taking out the best warriors we had. SOLDIERS fell left and right, gunmen died in droves. Even we Turks couldn't escape the nightmare." The woman buried her face in Reno's chest, taking comfort in his closeness.

"Elena went down first. I think Tseng died shortly afterwards. Don't know what happened to Rude; he got separated from us. And then they started chasing us. We held them off as long as we could, but..."

"Reno told me to get the hell out of there, that he'd cover my back. I didn't want to leave him, but he told me he'd be fine. And I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was terrified. So when he yelled at me to go, I didn't argue. I just ran, and never looked back."

"I went down fighting, I remember that much. I had an incendiary grenade in my pocket, last-ditch resort I had grabbed from somewhere. After I was certain Saleeda was out of range, I pulled the pin and let the fuckers come to me." His eyes fell, and one hand stroked his woman's back and hair. Nervous touching. "One of 'em got lucky. Stole my heart right before the timer went off. I went down in flames, but my heart was gone."

"So that's why I got control of fire," Axel muttered. "Consumed in flames, born out of fire. God, you made me a fuckin' _phoenix_..."

"Not intentional, yo!" the other redhead protested. He started to say something else, but Saleeda yanked his head down and shut him up with lips and tongue.

"And you already know how I was brought about. Saleeda died in darkness, in shadow. So I came into being, the Maiden of Darkest Shadow." Onyx rolled off her man, letting him sit up. "It seems we all have control of that which killed us, or at least had some influence in how we lost our hearts."

"If that's so, then I'd _really _like to know how Luxord and Sa'ix lost their hearts." His grin mirrored that of Onyx.

"Or Larxene."

"_Especially _Marluxia."

"Yeah. He probably got nuked by one of those plant-type Heartless," she snickered.

"Sooo..." Reno let go of Saleeda and sauntered over to where Axel was getting off the ground, looking at his alternate self with unreadable eyes. "You're my Nobody."

"Yeah. I guess I am." Axel had the same look on his face. Critical, unconsciously superior.

A round of female snickers made them break gazes and look at the women, who were hanging onto each other and trying very hard to keep from laughing.

"What's so funny?" "What's so funny, yo?" The phrases, said at the same time, made the women lose what little grip they had on their mirth and bend over double, laughing their heads off.

"You both..." Saleeda began, but failed to continue due to insane cackles.

"Look like you're having a cock-measuring match..." Onyx managed to get out.

"With yourself!" they howled together.

The redheads simply looked at the females, then back to each other, sharing identical smirks.

"Think we can officially label them insane, yo?"

"I think we'd better not, unless we don't want to get laid ever again."

They considered each other for a heartbeat longer, then went to collect their women. "I'm still the handsomer one, yo."

"But at least I'm grammatically correct."

"Flame-assed wannabe."

"Dye job."

"Girly boy."

"Four eyes."

Onyx and Saleeda stared at them, then dissolved into another round of rib-cracking guffaws. "I can see that this is going to be the beginning of a bee-YOU-tifal relationship!"

"I second that observation, Other."

"Hey, do you think you could give us some time alone here?" Reno asked Axel, prying Saleeda away from herself. "It's been too damn long since I've had her to myself, after all. Gotta make up for lost time."

"Same here, actually." Axel bodily hauled the purple-eyed woman away from her blue-eyed original. "I'm sure I'll be back in your body soon, dude."

"That just sounds _wrong_, yo," Reno said, a disgusted-but-amused look on his face.

Saleeda turned her attention completely to her redhead, yanking his head down with a fist in his hair. "Still the same perverted Reno. Damn, how I missed you!"

"Same here, Baby-girl. Now hold still for a moment while I get these off you..."

Onyx and Axel made their escape quickly, trying not to laugh. Reno sounded like a far more juvenile version of the Flurry of Dancing Flames.

AOAOAOAOAOAOAOAOAOAOAO

They came to a stop in a grove of ghost-white trees, laughing hard. "I never would have thought that my original self was such an immature pervert!" Axel snorted.

"Believe me, Saleeda is the same way. Those two were definately made for each other, no doubt about it." She slinked closer to the redhead, her eyes darkening to the shade of fine wine. "As you were for me."

"Don't you mean it the other way around?" He reached for her, yanking her close to him and leaning back against a handy tree trunk.

"Does it really matter?" She kissed his jawline, fingers playing with the cords hanging from the neckline of his robe. "I really missed you, Flamer."

"Same here, Shad. And I gotta tell you something, so stop that for a moment. You know it makes my head spin."

"Maybe I like seeing you completely undone." She flashed him a naughty grin and placed another kiss on his jaw, making him shiver.

"Onyx... Wait a minute." Axel pushed her out to arm's length, where he could look at her and she couldn't do anything to make him lose his train of thought. "Look, I know we really cared about each other before, but now that I have my heart back, I just wanted to tell you..."

She fought her way forward and placed two fingers against his lips, silencing him. "Axel... I know. I feel the same way. You don't have to tell me something I already know. I've known ever since we were in the Organization what we had, what we _still _have. You know it as well as I do..."

"We don't need hearts to be in love." Axel smiled, and drew her back into his arms. "Glad we had this little talk, Shad. Can we move on to bigger and better things?"

She reached to his waist, beginning to work the black robe upwards, just as he was to her robe. "Thought you'd never ask, Flamer."

_Together forever. Partners in death as in life. _

_Fire and shadow, forever entertwined. _

_The Flurry of Dancing Flames..._

_And his Maiden of Darkest Shadow. _


End file.
